Bryce Dallas Howard
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1989–present | spouse = | children = | mother = Cheryl Alley | father = Ron Howard | relatives = | homepage = }} Bryce Dallas Howard (born March 2, 1981) is an American actress and director. She is the eldest daughter of actor and director Ron Howard. She attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, but left before graduating to take on roles on Broadway. While starring as Rosalind in the play As You Like It, Howard caught the attention of director M. Night Shyamalan, and he cast her in what would be her breakout film, the psychological thriller The Village (2004). She then starred in Shyamalan's fantasy thriller Lady in the Water (2006). Her performance in Kenneth Branagh's 2006 film adaptation of As You Like It earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 2006, she co-wrote and directed the short film Orchids. Howard also appeared as Gwen Stacy in Sam Raimi's superhero film Spider-Man 3 (2007). Howard became more recognizable to audiences as the vampire Victoria in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010). This project, as well as the action film Terminator Salvation (2009), were financially successful, but garnered mixed reviews from critics. In 2011, she had supporting roles in the films 50/50 and The Help. She gained further international recognition for playing Claire Dearing in the science fiction adventure films Jurassic World (2015) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), the fourth and fifth installments in the Jurassic Park series, and her most financially successful films to date. Early life Howard was born March 2, 1981, in Los Angeles, California, to writer Cheryl Howard Crew (née Alley) and actor-director Ron Howard, She has two younger sisters, twins Jocelyn and Paige, and a younger brother named Reed. Through her father, she is a granddaughter of actors Rance Howard and Jean Speegle Howard as well as a niece of actor Clint Howard. Her godfather is actor Henry Winkler, who co-starred on Happy Days with her father. All of the Howard children were raised away from the world of show business. Their parents did not allow them access to television and instead encouraged outdoor activities and hobbies. At the age of seven, however, she was allowed to be an extra in her father's movies. In an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in 2017, she mentioned that she and her siblings were babysat by family friend Tom Cruise on several occasions. She was raised in Westchester County, New York, and on a farm in Greenwich, Connecticut. Howard attended Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts camp in upstate New York, with actress Natalie Portman. After attending Greenwich Country Day School until 1996 and then graduating from Byram Hills High School in 1999, Howard studied at New York University's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts for three years, during which time she also attended the Stella Adler Conservatory, The Experimental Wing, and International Theatre Wing in Amsterdam. During her schooling, she took part in the concept recording of the Broadway-bound musical A Tale of Two Cities. She left New York University without completing her degree. Howard is also an alumna of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's School at Steppenwolf in Chicago, and of The Actors Center in New York City. During her time in New York, Howard was also a member of downtown theater company Theater Mitu, in residence at New York Theatre Workshop, who are known for their exploration of theatrical forms. Career Career beginnings: 2002–2006 For several years, Howard appeared in New York plays. Among these were House & Garden, a 2002 Alan Ayckbourn production held at the Manhattan Theatre Club, in which she portrayed a disdainful, flirtatious teen. While performing as Rosalind in the critically acclaimed 2003 William Shakespeare comedy production As You Like It at The Public Theater, Howard caught the eye of director M. Night Shyamalan. Howard was cast in Shyamalan's fantasy thriller The Village (2004) two weeks later without having to audition. Its story is about a "turn-of-the-20th-century" village whose residents live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. She plays the female lead, the chief's blind daughter and love interest to Joaquin Phoenix's part. Her performance was applauded by critics and Howard was nominated for several awards, mostly in the category of "Best Breakthrough Performance". The Village did well commercially, but had a mixed reception. Following that, Howard was cast by Lars Von Trier to replace Nicole Kidman as Grace Mulligan in Manderlay, the 2005 sequel to Dogville (2003). The director said that it is "quite clear" his movie, set in a plantation, can be seen as an allusion to the Iraq War. Howard reunited with Shyamalan for Lady in the Water, in which she acts as Story, a type of water nymph called a narf. The 2006 fantasy film release also stars Paul Giamatti as the co-lead. Shyamalan's project follows the story of Giamatti's character rescuing what he thinks is a young woman (Howard) from his pool. Once he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to get back home, he teams up with his tenants to protect her from creatures that try to keep her in their world. It underperformed at the box office, falling short of its $75 million budget, and got largely negative reviews from critics. Next, she once again played Rosalind in Kenneth Branagh's 2006 film version of Shakespeare's As You Like It. It played in theatres in Europe before going directly to cable in the United States, premiering on HBO. Howard was nominated for a Golden Globe Award at the 2008 ceremony. The project got soundly negative reviews from the British media, while American reviewers gave it more favorable notice. That year, she wrote and directed a short film, Orchids, as part of Glamour magazine's "Reel Moments" series funded by Cartier and FilmAid International. Larger budget films and international recognition: 2007–present In 2007, Howard starred in her first blockbuster, Spider-Man 3 as Peter Parker's classmate Gwen Stacy, a fan favorite. A challenge that came with playing Gwen was reminding fans of the good-intentioned character who was Peter's first love in the comics, yet came off as "the other woman" in the movie. Howard dyed her naturally red hair blonde for the role and performed many of her own stunts, unaware that she was several months pregnant. Grossing $890 million. Terminator Salvation was her next project. Cast in June 2008, she replaced Claire Danes as Kate Connor. Howard was already a fan of the series. It grossed a total of $370 million, but was not well received critically. Howard starred as the lead character in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond in 2009. Based on a 1957 screenplay by Tennessee Williams, it did not play at many theaters. She played the role of Victoria, a vampire seeking revenge, in the ''Twilight'' series' third installment The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. She landed the part after Rachelle Lefevre was dropped due to a scheduling conflict and filming started in August 2009. Howard had already been a huge fan of the books and considered Victoria to be an "incredible character". Released on June 30, 2010 the film made nearly $700 million and although reviews were mixed, critics gave very positive reviews for Howard in the role. In December 2009, Howard was cast in Clint Eastwood's Hereafter (2010), as a burgeoning love interest for Matt Damon's character. In early January 2011, Howard became the first celebrity ambassador for purse designer Kate Spade. Her first film of 2011 was The Help, a movie adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's 2009 best-selling novel of the same name. She received critical acclaim for her performance in the film and was nominated for many Best Supporting Actress Awards, along with winning awards shared with the rest of the cast. Howard then produced Gus Van Sant's Restless, a dark coming of age movie about a teenage boy and girl who are engrossed with death. She had a supporting role opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the cancer dramedy 50/50, which was based on a true story. "It's viewing that experience through a very truthful lens of humour", she stated of 50/50's take on its heavy subject matter. Both films had September releases. Howard directed the short film When You Find Me, a social film developed through a collaboration with Canon. The film was developed under the premise of gathering inspiration through images selected from a photography contest. 96,362 entriesnumber of entries is noted at the end of the completed film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVrW26tkT7Q were accepted, while only eight final images were selected to be utilized for the production of the film. In 2015, Howard appeared in the lead role, alongside Chris Pratt, in Jurassic World, the fourth film in the series. The film was a commercial and critical success, grossing over $1.672 billion in worldwide receipts. Howard's performance, as the park's operations manager Claire Dearing, and on-screen chemistry with Pratt was praised. In 2016, she starred in the remake of the 1977 film Pete's Dragon, and appeared in the drama Gold with Matthew McConaughey. That same year, she appeared in "Nosedive", an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror. She reprised her role as Claire in the sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which was released in 2018. In 2019, Howard had leading roles in two films, providing the voice of the titular character Bella in A Dog's Way Home and appearing in Elton John biography Rocketman, directed by Dexter Fletcher, in which she played John's mother. She is set to reprise her role again in the unnamed sixth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise in 2021. Personal life During her senior year of high school, Howard learned of existentialism. "I was like, 'This is it! This is my religion.' I had never felt a connection to any sort of spirituality before that. It was very basic – you're responsible for the choices that you make – but it was mind-blowing at the time." Howard met actor Seth Gabel at New York University, and the two dated for five years before marrying on June 17, 2006. They had planned to start a family together in their 30s; however, seven days after their wedding, she learned that she was expecting their first child. Howard gave birth to their child, a son named Theodore, nicknamed Theo, in 2007. Howard openly discussed having experienced post-partum depression. With the help of a physician and a therapist she recovered from the depression, which lasted for about 18 months. Howard said of the depression in 2010, Do I wish I had never endured post-partum depression? Absolutely. But to deny the experience is to deny who I am. I still mourn the loss of what could have been, but I also feel deep gratitude for those who stood by me, for the lesson that we must never be afraid to ask for help, and for the feeling of summer that still remains. Howard gave birth to the couple's second child, daughter Beatrice, in 2012. Filmography Film Television Video games Music videos Awards and nominations References External links * Bryce Dallas Howard at brycedhoward.com * * * Bryce Dallas Howard at Internet Off-Broadway Database Category:1981 births Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American actresses Category:Actresses from Greenwich, Connecticut Category:Actresses from Los Angeles, California Category:Actresses from New York Category:American child actresses Category:American film actresses Category:American film directors Category:American Shakespearean actresses Category:American women film directors Category:Film directors from California Category:Howard acting family Category:Living people Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Westchester County, New York Category:Tisch School of the Arts alumni Category:Writers from Greenwich, Connecticut